we are out of iraq and we will soon largely be out of afghanistan. osama bin laden is dead, al qaeda is a shadow of its former self. threats remain, but they are being handled using special forces and intelligence. so finally, after a decade, we seem to be right-sizing the threat from terrorist groups. or are we? while we leave the battlefields of the greater middle east, and we are firmly committed to the war on terror at home. what do i mean by that? well, look at the expansion of federal bureaucracies to tackle this war. since september 11th, 2001, the u.s. government has created or reconfigured at least 263 organizations to tackle some aspect of the war on terror. 33 new building complexes have been built for the intelligence bureaucracies alone, occupying 17 million square feet. the equivalent of 22 u.s. capitals or three pentagons. the largest bureaucracy after the pentagon and the department of veterans affairs is now the department of homeland security, which has a workforce of 230,000 people. the rise of this national security state has enta